


Through Lifetimes

by anw1998



Category: Stray Kids (Band), 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 - 도깨비 | Goblin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Past Lives, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Gods, Grim Reapers, Happy Ending, Joseon Dynasty, M/M, Minor Character Death, Past Lives, Spirits, Suicide Attempt, Suicide Trigger, death trigger, hahaha, it does have a happy ending i swear, like no seriously, sword trigger???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 19:05:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15892203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anw1998/pseuds/anw1998
Summary: Grim reaper Minho had seen practically everything. That is, until a boy can see right through him. Meeting Han Jisung in this lifetime seemed to struck at his memories, awaking his past life that was supposedly removed years ago.





	Through Lifetimes

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! thanks for taking your time to read this fic! this is my first Stray Kids fanfic, so if the characters seem a bit off, I apologize. before you start reading, I would like to say thank you to my friend who forced me into stanning Stray Kids (jkjk)  
> but anyways, please remember this fic has a suicide attempt warning and minor character death.... kinda. enough with me rambling. happy reading!

“ _Hello?_ Can you see me?”

Minho crossed his arms as he watched the scene before him. Police gathered around, keeping the public away from the scene. Paramedics worked carefully on the body, trying bring the man back to life. Minho shook his head and looked down at the card: Kim Yugyeom.

As he looked back at the scene, the spirit of the man stood in front of a policeman. The words fell out of his lips, pleading for his life. “ _Please, I’m alive. Can you see me?_ ”

Sighing, Minho placed the black hat on top of his head. With the hat, he was hidden to the human eye. He strolled over to the spirit, glancing at his watch as he approached Kim Yugyeom. Once he stood in front of the man, he pulled out the card.

“Kim Yugyeom?” He asked.

The spirit widened his eyes and gripped Minho’s sleeves. “You can see me? Please, tell the police officer I’m okay. Tell him I’m alive.”

Minho pulled his sleeves away from his grip and sighed. “Time of death, 11:23. Cause of death: drinking and driving.”

“ _Wh-What?_ ” He stammered. “I’m not dead, I’m _right here._ ”

“Your body is there,” Minho told him as he pointed over to the paramedics.

The man gasped as he saw the scene. He shook his head wildly and turned back to Minho. He gripped his sleeves once again and began begging for his life. With a groan, Minho grabbed Yugyeom’s wrist and began leading him away from the scene.

“No, _please_ , where are we going?” The spirit cried. “Take me back to my body, I need to be alive.”

Minho bit the inside of his cheek before speaking. “Please come with me.”

Shortly after, Minho had brought the spirit to his _place._ It necessarily wasn’t a home, as to speak, but more of purgatory. Yugyeom sat at the end of the table, watching as Minho began brewing tea in the small little kitchen that separated life from death.

As Minho poured the caramel colored liquid into the teacup, he turned around and sat across from the spirit. He set the cup in front of Yugyeom and motioned for him to drink. Yugyeom furrowed his eyebrows and glanced down at the liquid.

“What the hell is this?” He spat.

Minho closed his eyes and let out a breath. “It’s tea, what else would it be?”

“Are you trying to poison me? Do you think I’m stupid? I barely met you and you practically kidnapped me. Now, you’re trying to make me drink this?”

“You are dead,” Minho told him. “Do you want to pass on or not? I didn’t kidnap you, I’m a grim reaper. The tea I gave you will help you forget your past life. If you don’t drink it, you will regret it in your next life.”

Tears sprung in the spirit’s eyes as he looked at the grim reaper. He shakily took the cup in his hands and bit his lip. “I can’t get a second chance? I can’t make a deal with you?”

Minho shook his head. “You’ll feel better once you drink the tea.”

“What about my family? What about all of my friends?” He cried. “They’ll miss me.”

“Everyone dies eventually, don’t they? They’ll be fine, please drink _the tea._ ”

After few minutes, Yugyeom wiped his face from the tears that had spilt upon his cheeks. He took ahold of the cup again and pressed it to his lips. Hesitantly, he drank the liquid and put the cup back down. Once Yugyeom looked back up at Minho, he already seemed like a different man.

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Who are you? Where am I?”

Minho pointed to the door that they had previously entered moments ago. “Walk through that door, okay?”

The spirit stood up from the table and followed Minho’s directions. As he walked towards the door, he took a double glance at Minho before finally walking through. Immediately, his spirit had vanished into the light. Minho sighed and took off his hat, sighing as he was alone again.

_Another one had passed._

Days passed on and so did many spirits. Minho had helped all types of spirits pass on, whether it be young children or the elderly, he helped all drink the tea and pass on to their next lives or into the afterlife. These past tasks had been underwhelmingly easy without any problems. It wasn’t until he got the card of an mid aged woman that had him frustrated.

He walked aimlessly through the hospital, searching for the woman’s spirit. Usually, they were near their bodies and trying to talk to the doctors or family, but sometimes, the spirits wandered off without a trace. This just happened to be the case.

“Where the hell are you?” Minho whispered to himself. “We’ve got three days to find you.”

Minho had exactly three days to find the spirit before they became trapped in purgatory. He never had spirit who escaped him that became imprisoned to purgatory and he wasn’t going to let this one be the first.

The first day, the spirit had not been found; Minho searched aimlessly throughout the area but could not find a trace of the woman. He eventually gave up and went home to get some sleep. Since there were only three days and the family would be gathered at the funeral home tomorrow, Minho decided he would look tomorrow.

As the night passed, he found himself having trouble sleeping. After having a nightmare on the first attempt to sleep, he stayed up trying to distract himself from his own thoughts. The thought of never finding the spirit clouded his mind. Having a strike on his clean record sent him into an anxiety filled state of insomnia.

Before the sun could rise again, Minho was already dressed and out the door of his apartment. He searched the neighborhoods without any luck. By the time the funeral home was open, Minho placed his hat on and searched around the venue. People crowded around the casket, yet there was no spirit in sight. Minho silently cursed to himself and turned around to look elsewhere, but he was stopped.

“Do I know you?” A blonde haired boy asked.

Minho furrowed his eyebrows and looked behind him. There was absolutely no one else near that this _kid_ could be talking to. He reached up to touch his hat, making sure that it was on and continuing to walk away without a second thought.

“Excuse me,” the boy grabbed his elbow. “I was talking to you, that was rude.”

To say he was frightened was a understatement. Minho was fucking _terrified._ “Are you… Are you talking to me?”

The boy snorted. “Am I talking to a ghost, then?”

Minho looked up and down at the boy, taking in his features. He wasn’t a spirit, he was human. So, how could he see the grim reaper? Blonde hair fell over his red puffy eyes, like he was hiding the fact that he was crying moments before. His lips were set into a pout, waiting for Minho’s response.

“You can see me?” He asked bluntly.

“Of course I can, I’m not blind. My name is Han Jisung, and you are?”

Minho began backing away from the boy. Never had he came across a human who could see him. His eyes must have looked panicked, because the boy had sighed and took ahold of Minho’s wrist and began dragging him out of the venue.

Once they left the crowd of people, Jisung let go of him and crossed his arms. “Are you going to tell me who you are or are you going to keep acting like a scared puppy?”

“I’m…” Minho began to think of an excuse. “I’m one of the funeral directors, I was looking for someone.”

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows. “Then why did you ignore me? Don’t you think I could have helped?”

“I didn’t think you were talking to me.”

“Well, I was looking right at you,” he began. As he continued to talk, Minho caught a glimpse of the missing spirit walking down the hallway. His eyes widened and he looked between Jisung and the spirit.

“I’m sorry, but I need to go,” that was all that Minho managed to say before he was running off to the spirit. He didn’t look back to the blonde headed boy who could see him. Truthfully, he didn’t care. His ass was on the line with this spirit and that boy would never see him again, so it wasn’t worth losing his job over.

After catching up with the spirit, Minho found himself back in purgatory with the tea sitting in front of the once missing spirit. He couldn’t help but to stare at the woman’s features, noticing how she had looked like the boy he had talked to earlier today. She talked on about her family, feeling quite sad that her life ended so quickly. Her words had even sounded like the boy’s.

_Jisung._

His thoughts were cut short once the woman drank the tea. She had a pout set on her lips, just like that boy did before. Minho shook the thoughts away and stood up to lead the woman out of purgatory. He couldn’t help but to take in the rest of her features before passing her on. Once she vanished, Minho let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

“Why could he see me?”

That night, Minho had a nightmare. He woke up with his shirt soaked in his own sweat and pressed against his chest. His breathing was erratic as he closed his eyes and tried to remember the dream. All he could remember was running away from something or _someone._

“It’s just a dream,” he breathed.

Weeks had passed after the interaction with the _Jisung_ boy. Minho thought he could get the thought out of his head after a few days, but truly, the thought lingered in the back of his head with every passing he took place in. It was until the other grim reapers met with Minho for their monthly work dinner that he finally said something about it.

Minho moved the piece of chicken around his rice, feeling no appetite left in his body. He sighed and turned to look at his friend, Chan. Him and Chan had known each other ever since they had began their jobs many centuries ago. The two had a special connection that they cherished greatly. They usually teased the other reapers and told them that they were lovers in their past life.

“Are you not going to eat?” Chan asked.

He shrugged and put the piece of chicken in his mouth. After swallowing, he looked up and gave Chan a smile. “I guess I’m just not that hungry.”

The man rolled his eyes and put another piece of chicken into his rice. “You need to eat, Minho. What’s wrong?”

“Chan, can I ask you something?”

He nodded. “Anything.”

Minho looked around the table, looking at his other coworkers faces before looking back at Chan. He reached over to the man’s ear and quietly asked him. “Have you… Have you ever met a human who could see you?”

It was probably the wrong timing to ask Chan, considering he had a glass of soju to his lips. Chan immediately coughed and soju spat all over his and Minho’s pants. Their other coworkers laughed at the scene, making remarks about how soju was leaking out of Chan’s nose.

“ _Fuck_ , I’m sorry. I’ll go get you some napkins.” Minho told him before leaving the table.

He came back with stack of napkins that the owner had given him, ordering him to clean up the mess that they were making. Minho gave some to Chan as he leaned and patted his own pants with the napkins.

“What are you talking about?” Chan hissed moments later. “A human who can see us?”

Minho nodded. “A human who can see us.”

Chan shook his head. “Are you sure you just didn’t have your hat on?”

“I checked for the hat, Chan,” he sighed. “The human… He grabbed my arm and asked me who I was.”

“You’re just fucking with me, right? Ha ha, the jokes over, Minho. You can stop now.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Why would I joke about that? I’m not playing games, a fucking human saw me and now I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Minho must have said that too loud than he had wanted to. Now, all of his coworkers stared at him, shock running across their faces. Minho groaned and slumped in his chair as the others stared at him.

“A human saw you?” Woojin, their newest reaper, asked. “That’s ridiculous, they can’t see us.”

“Would I lie about this kind of thing?”

Jihyo, their only female reaper, snorted. “You’ve lied about a lot of things in the past, Minho. Should I bring up the _ghost cat_ again?”

Minho glared. “I didn’t lie about that either, I thought the fucking cat was a ghost, okay? Look, I’m just really freaked out because this kid saw me. I had my hat on, he wasn’t a spirit, and he grabbed my arm.”

“Are you sure this isn’t about Halloween coming up?” Chan asked.

He let out a long sigh and gripped at his hair. “I swear, I can’t tell you guys anything. Just forget I ever said anything.”

After the work dinner, Minho tried his best to forget about that _stupid_ human. It must had been just a problem with the hat; maybe it wasn’t on his head all the way or maybe he had been a spirit and Minho was just too dumb to realize.

It was on his last task of the month when he realized there was something up with that Jisung boy. He had met his last spirit, a young boy who had died from cancer. Minho crouched down in the hallway of the hospital, his hat laid on top of his head and a smile across his face as he talked to the young boy.

“My name’s Minho,” he told the young boy. “What’s yours?”

The boy frowned and looked around. “My name is Joonwoo. Mister, why aren’t the doctors talking to me?”

He gave him a soft smile. “It’s because you’re invisible. Isn’t that cool? It’s like we’re playing a game.”

“Mister, are you invisible too?”

Before Minho could respond, a familiar voice interrupted him. “Invisible, huh?”

When he turned around, the same blonde headed boy that had filled his mind for weeks before. Jisung had approached the two, kneeling down to the young boy. He probably had come to the hospital to pay for his mother’s hospital bills, or to collect personal items. However, the man was astonished that Jisung could not only see grim reapers, but spirits too. Minho was at a loss for words when the blonde boy had began talking to Joonwoo.

“Didn’t your mom teach you not to run off with strangers?” Jisung asked him.

The boy frowned. “Mister Minho told me that he’d take me somewhere happy.”

Jisung shot Minho a glare before standing up and grabbing Joonwoo’s hand. “Let’s go back to your room, alright? You shouldn’t trust him.”

“ _Wait,_ stop,” Minho said frantically.

He turned around and glared at the grim reaper. “You’re trying to take him away, aren’t you? Take him away from his family just like you took my mom away. I’m not going to let you do the same thing that you did to me.”

Minho was stunned, he didn’t know what to say or what to do. So, he did the first thing he could think of. He ran over to Jisung and yanked his hand off of the young boy, holding his wrists so he couldn’t escape. Jisung struggled and tried to pull away from his hold, but no avail. While the two fought, the young boy began to cry.

“Please don’t fight,” the boy cried.

Quickly, Minho let go of Jisung to comfort the young boy. He cradled him in his arms and shushed him while the blonde headed boy held his wrists and looked at the two. When Joonwoo began to calm down, Minho leaned into his ear and whispered.

“Would you like something warm to drink? I have the perfect thing to make you feel better.”

Joonwoo nodded and took ahold of Minho’s hand, ready to follow the man. Before they could leave, Minho turned to Jisung and gave him a soft smile.

“We need to talk. I’ll be back in an hour.”

Jisung narrowed his eyes and looked away from the grim reaper. He crossed his arms and pouted his lips as his eyes began to turn glossy. Nodding slightly, slid against the wall and sat with his knees to his chest.

Minho then left with the boy to help him pass on to his next life without another word. The boy had passed on smoothly without any problems. Children were the easiest to help, since they were most naive about the afterlife and past lives. Minho sighed to himself as he looked out the door the boy went through moments ago. As he pulled himself together, he grabbed his things and left back to reality.

Like he had promised, he managed to make his way back to the hospital after an hour, this time without the younger boy by his side. He walked the hallways, trying to find the familiar blonde headed boy who kept interrupting his work.

In the same hallway from before, that’s where he found Jisung in the same position as when he left. Minho let out a breath and made his way over to him, sitting down beside him with his hat in his lap.

“Your name is Jisung, correct?” Minho asked.

It took a minute for the blonde boy to respond. He nodded and sighed. “That’s me.”

“And you can see me,” he muttered. “You can see spirits too, can’t you?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his head away from Minho. A tear rolled down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away.

Minho leaned over to look at him. “You don’t have to cry.”

“You think I’m a freak, don’t you? When I first saw you, the look on your face said it all. I was supposed to stay away from you guys, that’s what my mom told me, but look where she is now. I couldn’t stay away and now you’re showing up everywhere.”

“Why are you supposed to stay away from me? Do you know what I am?” The reaper asked.

Jisung turned to face Minho, rolling his eyes in the process. “Do you think you’re fooling anyone? All my life, I was told stories of _your kind._ You’re a grim reaper. Did you tell me to stay here so you could take me next? I don’t care anymore, _kill me.”_

Even though this was a serious moment, Minho couldn’t help but to laugh at the blonde boy beside him. Jisung let out a huff and gave the man a shove.

“I’m sorry,” Minho chuckled, rubbing at his side. “But that was really cute. We don’t kill people.”

The color pink had painted the boy’s cheeks as he crossed his arms again. “Well,  _whatever,_ it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re evil.”

“If I’m so evil, then why are you sitting by me?”

There was a minute of silence before he answered. “I don’t care what you do to me. I just… _don’t care anymore._ Now that my mom is gone, I don’t have anything to live for. She was the one who was always there for me, she told me that I shouldn’t feel ashamed of myself for seeing the things that I do see. You took her away from me and I can’t ever forgive you for that.”

Minho frowned and let out a breath. “You know, she couldn’t stay a spirit.”

“Why the fuck couldn’t she? She wasn’t hurting anyone, _you_ were the one who decided she needed to go,” Jisung raised his voice. “I tried so hard to keep her with me, _to keep her away_ from _your people._ ”

“That’s… not how that works. She would have been stuck here, trapped in purgatory, she needed to go.”

The boy then stood up from the wall with his hands balled into fists. He looked down at Minho with a glare set on his face. Minho sat there, watching as he pulled his fist back. Obviously, the kid was upset and he had to take his anger out in _some way._ Minho gave him a soft smile before the boy swung his fist.

Minho closed his eyes before he could see the punch coming, but when he heard the thud next to his ear, he opened his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows. Jisung was crouched over him, his fist against the wall and heavy breathing coming from his lips.

“Are you okay?” Minho asked, genuinely worried that he had hurt himself.

Without a response, Jisung lifted himself up from the wall and began to walk away. He didn’t spare Minho a second glance, he only kept walking away. It was that moment that Minho realized how death could cause a person so much grief. Since he worked around death constantly, he never took in how people reacted to it. Minho ran a hand through his hair as the pit in his stomach grew.

When Minho slept that night, he had another nightmare. This time, the dream was much more vivid, but he still couldn’t tell what was going on. His hand was tightly locked with another hand holding onto him. Around him were tall trees and they didn’t seem to be coming to a stop soon. Behind him, the sounds of hooves hitting the ground and men yelling filled his ears. When Minho looked over to the person he was clutching onto, he tripped.

Minho gasped as soon as he woke up. He sat up in bed quickly and placed a hand to his chest, feeling his heart pound. Tears trickled down his cheeks without any warning. He didn’t know why he was crying, but he was full of sorrow. That night, he wasn’t able to go back to sleep. Instead, the dream played over and over in his eyes until sunlight peaked out of his curtains.

He groggily walked down the hallway of the association the next morning. Other reapers walked passed him, with more cards in their hands.Every month him and the other grim reapers had to report back to get more jobs to do, or in other words, more death to take care of.

As he sat down on the bench beside the office, he began to think back to the dream he had last night. Who was he holding? Was this part of his past life? Minho shook his head at the thought, it was impossible. His memories were erased centuries ago when he first became a grim reaper and once they were erased, they couldn’t come back.

“It was just a stupid nightmare, Minho,” he huffed to himself.

“What was that?” Chan asked, snapping Minho out of his thoughts. He sat next to him on the bench and threw an arm around his shoulders. “Why do you look like death? _Ha, get it?_ Death?”

Minho shot him a glare and shook his head. “I didn’t get much sleep last night. Which is stupid, by the way. If we’re immortal, then why do we have to sleep?”

Chan snorted. “I don’t know, ask the immortal gods. Besides, it’s not like immortality was a gift. Obviously, we did some kind of shitty thing in our past lives and now the gods are punishing us.”

“Do you ever wonder what your past life was like or what you actually did to put yourself in the association?”

“Eh, sometimes,” the other reaper sighed. “But what are we gonna do? It’s not like we can bring back our memories.”

With a frown, Minho nodded. “That’s true.”

After retrieving his cards for the month, Minho stood outside the office, flipping through his cards. A few car accidents, old age, and illnesses. It was never anything new. Minho leaned against the wall, waiting for Chan to exit the office. Usually, the two compared cards and traded jobs when they had deaths they weren’t so fond about. When the familiar man left the office, he frowned and flipped through his own cards.

“Why do they always give me suicides? Those are the worst,” Chan sighed.

Minho raised an eyebrow. “Suicides?”

“Yeah, I got a card for Han Jisung in…   three days? He’s not that old, I kinda feel bad for the kid.”

If Minho wasn’t already pale from the lack of sleep, he would have lost all the color to his face. He raced over to Chan, yanking the card out of his hands. This couldn’t be the same Jisung from before, right? Gulping, he looked up at Chan.

“Can I trade you?” He asked, clearly panicked.

Chan furrowed his eyebrows and nodded. “Sure? What for, though?”

Minho shook his head and gave him a random card, along with his previous cards that he had yanked away. He looked at the card and let out a shaky sigh as he raced out of the hallway. Surely _his_ Jisung wouldn’t do that, right? As he raced out of the building, he realized he didn’t know where to go to find the boy. He didn’t know where he lived or anywhere he could find him; the only places he’s seen him were the funeral home and the hospital. Minho pulled at his hair and groaned.

_Now that my mom is gone, I don’t have anything to live for._

Jisung’s voice echoed through his head as he walked back to his apartment without any idea what to do. He wasn’t sure why he cared so much for this… _human._ The kid was bound to die sometime, right? Maybe his next life would even treat him better than this one had?

“Why do I feel so connected to you?” Minho groaned.

He laid in bed, staring at the same card as earlier before. Secretly, he hoped that _his_ Jisung had a different last name. A frown set his face as he looked at the time of the death. It was early in the morning, where most suicides took place. The address of the death was a random street nearby, so finding his house was clearly out of the picture. Minho predicted the kid would try to walk in the street and commit suicide that way. He shuddered at the thought.

When nighttime came, Minho fell asleep with the card in his hand. His dreams were captivated by the same recurring nightmare. However, this time was different. This time, he felt like he was reliving the dream.

He was running again, with the same hand in his and the same sound following behind. His breathing was erratic as he skimmed passed the tall trees, hoping the person he held was okay following along. When he turned around to look, this time he got a clearer view of the person behind him. His eyes caught the person’s traditional clothing first. Were they in the Joseon era? When Minho got a look at the person’s face, he almost tripped again, but he caught himself this time.

“Jisung?” He asked.

The boy looked back at him, tears in his eyes. “Minho, I don’t want to die.”

Minho looked back in front of him, finding a rock structure in the distance. He squeezed Jisung’s hand and ran towards the rock. When they finally reached it, Minho hid the two behind. As they tried to calm their breathing, Jisung threw his arms around Minho’s neck, sobbing softly. Minho wrapped his arms around the boy’s waist instinctively and pressed a kiss to the side of his head.

“It’s okay, Jisung,” he soothed. “I’m here with you, alright?”

“Why did you have to steal from the King? What were you thinking? You fucking _idiot,_ ” he cried.

Minho rubbed his back, unsure of what he stole. He only wanted to comfort the boy and hold him tight into his arms. In the dream, Minho couldn’t control what he was doing. It was as if he were reliving something, but feeling and seeing everything just like a movie.

Jisung pulled away from Minho’s shoulder and placed his hands on the man’s face. Minho leaned in and pressed his lips to Jisung’s. The two stood like that for awhile, lips interlocking with each other’s and hands rubbing in smoothing motions. As they were getting more comfortable with each other, the men’s voices got closer. Minho pulled away from the kiss and held the back of Jisung’s head down to his chest, as if to cradle him, and listened in to what they were saying.

“Thieves! Show yourselves!” A man yelled.

“Minho, I’m scared,” Jisung mumbled.

When the sounds got farther away, Minho sighed in relief. _Finally,_ they were gone. As he lifted Jisung’s head up to take a look at his face, his the color of his skin vanished.

“Jisung, baby? What’s wrong?” He asked, panickedly.

The boy pointed behind him, eyes widening as he pulled away from Minho, feet staggering backwards. Minho turned around and found what the boy had previously been looking at. Behind him, a sword was pointed directly at his chest. The man wielding the sword smirked and without a second thought, thrusted it forward.

Minho woke up with a yell as he shot up from bed. He gasped for air, feeling lost without Jisung’s warm body that was pressed against him in his dream. His heart began to ache without the boy there to comfort him and for some odd reason, guilt had overcame him. Minho wanted nothing more but to next to Jisung again.

“Jisung,” he breathed, trying to call out for him.

His eyes darted around, looking at his same apartment from before. He let out a sigh of relief, realizing it was just a dream. Although, it felt _so real._ Minho placed his hands on his face, rubbing slightly.

“That wasn’t just a dream,” he muttered.

The fact that the nightmare was recurring made Minho suspicious. If he did the math correctly, he became a grim reaper shortly after the Joseon Dynasty began. His dream definitely took place in that time. It had to be his past life, there was no other way. _But_ , _why was Jisung there?_

Everything had gotten more confusing ever since Jisung showed up. As soon as Minho had met Jisung, that was when he started having nightmares. Not to mention the strange connection he had with him. Minho bit his bottom lip and grabbed the card from beside him. Two more days left until he could confront the boy.

Those two days went by incredibly slow. Even with work, Minho could have sworn the gods were punishing him and making time go by slower. When the day finally came, Minho woke up early and sat at the exact address the card had led him to. Even though the incident wouldn’t take place until after midnight, Minho couldn’t wait.

Hours pushed by and Minho was growing hungry, but he couldn’t move from his spot. He had to keep looking for Jisung despite his growling stomach. There was hope that he would find the boy before the suicide took place. The sun eventually set and Minho was extremely exhausted. He waited hours, knowing the suicide wouldn’t happen until later, but he still refused to leave his sitting position.

“Jisung, where are you?” He sighed.

Minho didn’t even know if it was the same Jisung he knew. It could be some stranger that had the same name as him. However, he had a feeling that it was _his_ Jisung. Sighing, he leaned back against the brick building and kept looking for the blonde boy.

Ten minutes until the death was supposed to happen, Minho was on his feet and frantically searching around the street. Time felt like it was speeding up and tears were starting to form in the corners of his eyes. As it got closer to the minute mark, that’s when Minho spotted _him._

Standing at the curb of the street, the blonde headed boy stood with a grey hoodie covering his head with blonde hairs sticking out in the front. Minho began running without a second thought, sure that it was him. Jisung began to walk forward as a car was nearing towards the crosswalk. Before Jisung could manage to take another step, Minho had pushed him back into the sidewalk. The boy fell back with a grunt, Minho following beside him.

“What the fuck?” Jisung groaned in pain.

Minho pushed himself off the ground and immediately turned to the boy. His hands gripped at the boy’s face, cradling his cheeks into his hands. He swept the blonde hair away from his eyes and checked for any injuries. Jisung watched him with his eyebrows furrowed and mouth set into a grimace.

“Are you okay?” Minho asked. “You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”

Jisung placed his hands on Minho’s chest and pushed him away. He sat up from the sidewalk, ruffling his hair back into place and turning to glare at Minho. “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you normally shove people into the sidewalk?”

Minho smiled softly, despite being yelled at. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“You need fucking help.”

Minho would be lying if he said he didn’t stifle out a laugh at the remark. Jisung kept glaring at him while he stood up and lended a hand to the blonde boy. Reluctantly, Jisung took his hand and stood up, keeping the same scowl on his face.

“You were about to commit suicide,” Minho told him.

Jisung rolled his eyes. “So what? I thought it was your job to deal with dead people, not shoving people on the fucking concrete.”

That’s when it all set in. Minho just risked his job for this boy and he didn’t know what the outcome would be. He heard rumors that the higher-ups would damn faulty grim reapers to Hell without a second glance. Saving someone from death would most likely get him reported. He cursed to himself and looked up at Jisung.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He scoffed. “If you touch me again, I swear to god, I won’t hesitate to punch you this time.”

“We need to talk, I don’t know if I have much time.”

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows and slightly backed away. “What? Why?”

Minho gave him a soft smile. “Let’s talk about what just almost happened. ”

“I have nothing to say to you,” he spat.

“Yeah? You would have had to talk to me if you jumped right into that car.”

The boy rolled his eyes and shifted uncomfortably. Minho let out a chuckle as he placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly. He looked over at the surrounding area, spotting a nice convenient store not too far away. His stomach had growled again, reminding him that he was hungry.

Minho grinned. “Are you hungry? I’ll buy us ramen.”

That’s how Minho found himself sitting across from Jisung, eating ramen as the blonde boy stared at him with an eyebrow raised. He felt content with Jisung sitting with him, like he finally felt complete. There was a small part of him that wondered if he felt the same way Minho had, or if he was having nightmares too.

“Are you going to tell me what you wanted to talk about?” Jisung sighed.

Minho shrugged. “I don’t know, are you going to eat the ramen I bought you?”

The boy sighed and began eating. Minho couldn’t help but to watch with a smile playing on his lips. Once the two finished eating, the two sat back in their chairs, staring at each other. Jisung eventually rolled his eyes and looked away as Minho laughed.

“Why’d you try to kill yourself?”

Jisung scoffed. “Why do you care?”

Minho shrugged and smiled. “You’re making my job harder on me.”

“ _Fuck off._ ”

“Kidding, calm down. Is it about your mom? You know that she would have wanted you to keep living. I think I remember her worrying about you when I helped her pass on,” he told the boy.

Jisung’s face instantly softened at the mention of his mother. He began to eye Minho curiously. “Pass on? What did she say?”

Minho thought back to the interaction with his mother, the missing spirit. Before she had drank the tea, she told him how she wished she had gotten a few more years before her inevitable death. She mentioned her son and told Minho how she felt sorry for him and how she hoped he wouldn’t take the death too hard. Unfortunately, he didn’t remember much after that. His thoughts had been captivated by the _human who could see him._

“Well,” he started. “Truthfully, I don’t remember much, but she did say that she didn’t want you to take her death too hard. She wanted you to be happy.”

The boy narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “Are you sure she said that? She didn’t like you guys either.”

“Trust me, I know. I spent two days looking for her.”

“What did you mean by _pass on?_ ” He asked.

Minho shrugged. “That’s what we do. We just help spirits pass on to the afterlife or onto their next lives. It’s nothing evil, contrary to what you believe.”

His body language started to soften after Minho explained. The scowl that was on his face had faded and for the first time, he wasn’t pissed off at the man. However, Minho’s face fell at the thought of his job. _He was fucked._

“I don’t think I’ll be a grim reaper for much longer,” he sighed.

Jisung furrowed his eyebrows. “Why? You guys have a contract or something? Actually, how did you even become a grim reaper? You look human.”

“I am human,” Minho snickered. “I’m just immortal. I became a grim reaper several years ago. I think it was after the Joseon Dynasty began.”

“How? I’m confused.”

The man shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “Well… In order to become a grim reaper, you have to commit a great sin in your past life. They erase your memory and force you in purgatory for the rest of your life, basically.”

Jisung was silent for a second before speaking again. “Do you know what you did?”

Minho shook his head, then hesitated. “Actually, I’ve been having weird dreams lately. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Weird dreams?”

The man took a deep breath as the dreams flashed before his eyes. Running away with Jisung, kissing him, and murdered. What did he steal from the King?

“I think I’m remembering my past life,” he muttered. “And you were there.”

Jisung started to choke. “Me? What the fuck? Are you sure you’re not _just_ dreaming?”

Minho shook his head. “No, they’re different… They feel different.”

“You’re losing your mind. There is absolutely no way that _I_ was there with you.”

This time, Minho was the one to lose his temper. He sat up in the chair and furrowed his eyebrows, letting out a huff and slamming his hands down on the table. When he realized how loud he was, he took in a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

“Listen to me,” he sighed. “There must be a reason that you can see spirits. Haven’t you thought about it before?”

The boy furrowed his eyebrows. “My mother could see spirits before she passed away.”

“Yeah? Well maybe there’s a reason your family is cursed,” Minho told him.

“I think you’re crazy.”

Jisung stood up from the chair and grabbed his hoodie, about to leave the grim reaper alone. Minho followed him, grabbing his arm so he couldn’t leave. The boy turned around, glaring at the man and yanked his arm away.

“Jisung, _stop,_ ” Minho begged. “I’m serious; have you never thought about it before?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ve spent my entire life thinking I was a freak for seeing spirits. You think I haven’t thought about it before? I just don’t see how _I_ could have cursed my entire family.”

The man let out a groan, grabbing his arm again. He had to make Jisung believe him, and the only way was to help him remember his past life. The only way he knew how to restore memories was by giving a familiar feeling that would remind them of something similar that happened in the past life. With Jisung, the only thing he could think of was kissing him just like he had in his dream.

Without thinking, Minho reached forward and pressed his lips to Jisung’s. It was only for a second until Jisung pulled back quickly, feet backing up until he ran into a shelf. His eyes were wide as he stared at Minho with his fingers to his lips. Minho immediately realized what he had done and took a step forward.

“Oh my god,” the man gasped. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I did that.”

Jisung shook his head. “You fucking… _Dick!_ You can’t just go around kissing random people. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Do you remember anything?” He asked, hoping the boy would at least getting something out of the kiss.

“You kissed me because you thought I would remember my past life? I… I’m leaving.”

This time, Minho let him leave. He watched as the boy left the convenience store hastily without sparing the man a glance. Quietly, he cursed to himself and ran a hand through his hair. Why did he have to kiss him?

Minho laid in bed that night with his mind thinking back to the kiss he shared with Jisung. Selfishly, he quite enjoyed the feeling of the boy’s warm lips against his. Even if it had only been for a second, the kiss had sent butterflies to his stomach and left him aching for more. He fell asleep moments later with the phantom lips on his.

When morning came, Minho woke up to a card laying on top of his chest. He grumbled, stretching out his arms and letting out a yawn. Minho picked up the card, thinking it was one of his cards, but when his eyes scanned it, a rush of dread came over him.

The card was a summon from the higher-ups, most likely for the failure to pass on Jisung… _and saving him from death._ He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping this was just some nightmare, that this was some kind of mistake. When he opened his eyes again, the card remained the same.

“Fuck,” he groaned.

After an hour passed, Minho found himself staring at the office doors, trying to give himself the courage to walk through. A little part of him hoped that the higher-ups would let him off easily, but the rest of him knew that there was absolutely no way that could happen. His actions were completely unforgivable.

Letting out a breath, he found a little courage in himself and opened the doors and walked through. Three demigods sat in their desks, not looking up as Minho entered the room. He stopped in the middle of the three desks, bowing slightly as he clasped his hands in front of him.

“Lee Minho, one of our longest living grim reapers,” one of the demigods sighed.

Minho bowed again. “Yes, sir.”

Papers were being ruffled around until another one spoke. “You do realize why you’re here, correct? Offense of saving Han Jisung from death, causing his death to be delayed.”

“I am aware, I apologize.”

“What were you thinking? Now, things are off course because of you. You have never done anything like this before. Your record had been clean up until now,” the last one finally spoke. “I’m sorry, but we can’t let this go unexcused.”

The fear hit Minho like a hurricane. He closed his eyes for a second and then nodded at the demigods. His hands began to tremble as he thought about his own death; if he had not stolen whatever he had in his past life, this wouldn’t have happened. Minho could have been normal with a human life, but here he was.

He lifted his head and let out a shaky breath. “I understand.”

“Report back here in a week. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors.”

A week left to live his _immortal_ life. Minho found himself walking down the street without a destination in mind. His thoughts were racing as his feet took their own path. Since Minho never had to face death, he never thought about it. After being immortal for so long, death never fazed him, _until now._

Hours seemed like minutes as he found himself standing in front of a palace. As he took in all of the architecture, he fell to his knees. The palace had looked familiar, like he had seen it before. Maybe it was the same one he had lived many centuries ago. _Gyeongbokgung,_ where _he_ resided.

Tourists walked around Minho, eyeing him strangely as he sat there on his knees, staring at the palace. His lips trembled as his eyes caught the inside, he remembered the harsh summer they had faced in the courtyard years ago. He remembered the way his skin felt hot underneath his uniform, how he would go back to his living quarters after work and fanned himself off.

He recalled how Jisung would sneak into his sleeping area after dark. Many maids thought they were close friends, but they were more than just that. The picture flashed in his mind, playing every second of his past life in the palace. He remembered kissing Jisung for the first time, not afraid of the younger’s reaction. Minho had knew that the boy felt the same as he did and he took advantage of his innocence. However, Jisung had took their relationship to the next level. The two couldn’t get enough of each other.

His memory only went so far before he came to a halt, finding it difficult to remember what happened before they had gone running off. When Minho finally came back to real life, tears were running down his cheeks. He reached up and wiped his tears away, finding that they wouldn’t stop streaming down.

His heart ached for Jisung. After all of these years, he never got to live the life they wanted. They planned to flee the palace and find a nice secluded home away from civilization. He promised the boy that he would protect him no matter what, but unfortunately, that couldn’t happen.

“Jisung, I’m so sorry,” he cried. “I’m so fucking sorry. I promised you so much and I ended up letting you down. I was so _selfish._ ”

“It’s okay,” a voice whispered. Suddenly, a hand was placed on his back and rubbed softly against his black coat. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Minho turned his head, finding the familiar boy kneeling beside him. His eyes were red and puffy, just like they were when they first met. Minho opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words. Instead, he wrapped his arms around the boy and sobbed into his shirt. Jisung comforted him, his hand still on the man’s back while his other one combed through his hair.

Eventually, the two were told to leave the property. Jisung had kindly invited the man over to his house. Minho obliged and sometime after, found himself lying in the boy’s bed. They didn’t speak, only the sound of insects from outside filled the silence. After awhile, Minho was the first to speak.

“You’re different today. How did you find me?” He asked in a whisper.

Jisung smiled sheepishly. “After you, erm, _kissed me_ yesterday, I had a nightmare. So, I came to the palace to see if I could remember anything else and I saw you.”

The man furrowed his eyebrows and propped himself up on the bed. “A nightmare? What was it about?”

“It felt like it was after the Joseon Dynasty began, just like you said. I can’t remember everything, but we were very close. I remember how we would sneak around just to give each other kisses or words of affection around the palace. The most vivid memory I have is us in the sleeping quarters together, kissing each other with so much _love,_ ” tears began to swell in his eyes. “My heart hurts to think about it, I’ll start crying again.”

Minho reached forward and let his thumb swipe away the boy’s tears. “It’s okay, we’re here now, aren’t we? Tell me what else you remember.”

He waited a second to speak, sniffing as he wiped his eyes. “You… stole from the king. I think I remember his name… Seo Changbin?”

“Seo Changbin… Do you possibly know what it was that I stolen? My memory is fragmented.”

“You stole something sacred,” Jisung frowned. “An offering for the gods.”

Minho stared at Jisung with his eyebrows furrowed. He let out a sigh, trying to remember stealing an offering. However, his mind came up blank and he let out a groan. “I can’t fucking remember and it’s driving me insane.”

“It’s okay, you have plenty of time to remember. I can’t recall the rest, but maybe you can tell me your dreams?” The boy gave him a soft smile.

The man smiled and laid back down on the bed. He pulled Jisung close to him, intertwining their fingers as he told the boy of his dreams that ultimately led to his death. Night fell and the two stayed in that position; with Jisung’s head laying on his chest and their fingers locked together. Everything felt right.

Minho stirred in his sleep slightly; nightmares came and they felt more real than they had before. His breathing was erratic and he kept squeezing at the boy’s hand. Jisung didn’t wake up, as he was stirring in his sleep as well. Whimpers left his lips as his nose scrunched from the dreams.

Minho found himself in the sleeping quarters with Jisung, pacing around the room as the boy watched from the bed with worry written across his face. The man let out a frustrated sigh and yanked at his hair. He turned to Jisung and frowned.

“Seo Changbin is a piece shit and you can’t tell me otherwise,” he told the boy. “This isn’t fair, you know? He’s gonna get us killed and he won’t even bat an eye.”

Jisung shook his head. “Minho, please calm down. We can get through this, okay? It’s not the end of the world.”

“No, you don’t understand. He wants us to take the offering into Hwang Hyunjin’s territory, since it’s a _supposed_ sacred area of the gods. He’s already threatened us with war and if we step foot into his territory, there’s no doubt he won’t hesitate to murder.”

“Well,” the boy frowned. “Maybe he has a plan? Maybe he’s already talked to Hwang Hyunjin? I mean, it is an offering for the gods.”

Minho shook his head. “No, he didn’t. Bang Chan told me that he was talking to Jeongin about it when he walked in. He said he heard Changbin say it was a risky move, but it’s a risk he was willing to take.”

Jisung sat up from the bed. “He’s willing to have you and Chan murdered?”

“He wants me dead, baby. Maybe he’s sending me because of the wine incident. Even though I said I had nothing to do with it.”

“He can’t be mad about that still. That was months ago,” the boy groaned.

Sighing, Minho walked up to Jisung, wrapping his arms around the younger. “I know, baby. I’m gonna figure out something, alright? We have a future together, okay?”

He pressed his lips to Jisungs, the younger following his lead. They stayed like that for a minute, kissing each other until a knock on the door broke the silence. Minho pulled away and walked towards the door, opening it slightly. Chan peaked his head through and gave the two a smile.

“Mind if I borrow Minho for a second?”

Jisung shook his head. “You guys should talk. Minho, I’m gonna go to sleep, okay?”

The man nodded and gave him a smile. “Goodnight, baby. I’ll join you in a bit.”

Minho walked out of the room and followed Chan outside. They stopped around the corner, making sure no one was around to hear their conversation. Once the coast was clear, Chan let out a sigh.

“So, I just met up with Seungmin,” Chan told him. “He’s in charge of keeping the offering safe.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“It’s a crystal that I’ve never seen before. It must be important, because he has that thing on lockdown,” he said quietly.

Minho nodded. “What’s the plan?”

Chan checked around the corners again before quietly muttering. “Seungmin told us that he’d turn a blind eye for a thousand mun. _Fucking took all of my life savings._ The plan is that we go in there in an hour and take it.”

“You want me to steal it? Chan, that’s too risky. What if we get caught?”

“You’re good at being sneaky,” he snorted. “How long have you been together with Jisung? Almost two years?”

The man sighed and shook his head. “That’s different and you know it.”

“It’s not, just trust me. Let’s go get it, okay?”

Minho woke up with a jolt, letting a gasp past his lips. His head throbbed, not used to the nightmares yet. He looked down at the boy, who was whimpering slightly. Letting out a sigh, he stroked the boy’s hair, tucking it behind his ear. He laid there for the rest of the night, comforting Jisung as he slept, and letting the nightmare flash before his eyes.

In the morning, Jisung sat up quickly, startling Minho. He didn’t even know the boy had woken up. When he turned around to look at Minho, panic was spread across his face. The man placed a hand on his cheek.

“What’s wrong? Is everything okay?” He asked, thumb running across his skin.

“You… The crystal,” Jisung closed his eyes. “Minho, I didn’t die.”

Minho furrowed his eyebrows. “What? What do you mean?”

He shook his head and got up from the bed. “I didn’t die after that man murdered you. I ran off and escaped in a nearby village. In the night, I went back into the forest to try to find your body, but it was gone. They must have taken you.”

“Jisung, you lived?” He sat up in bed.

“I’m so fucking sorry I left you. You saved my life and I was a coward.”

Minho got out of bed and held Jisung’s shoulders. “You were not a coward, I promise you. What else do you remember?”

He looked down the floor, trying to remember and piece his dream together. “I… I’m trying to remember. The crystal… _Minho_ , I still have it.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Jisung started walking out of the room, Minho following him. “After I got to the village, I realized I had the crystal in my pocket. Since I was afraid of being caught, I sent it to a goldsmith to be made into a necklace. I think… I passed it on to my children. _Fuck,_ where did my mom put it?”

As he rummaged through drawers, Minho stood in the doorway, trying to process the new information. The crystal was never used for the sacrifice and Jisung had kept it in his family. Would this be the reason why his family was cursed by the gods? Minho exhaled and pinched his nose. He was the reason why Jisung’s family was cursed.

“Isn’t this great, Minho?” Jisung hummed as he looked the drawers. “Now that we remember, we can finally be together, just like we planned years ago. Plus, the world is a little more accepting of our love. We don’t have to hide.”

 _Together._ Minho silently cursed to himself. He still had to break it to Jisung that he wouldn’t be alive much longer. He would be breaking the boy’s heart once again. Six more days left until he had to report back to the higher-ups for his end.

“Jisung,” he began. “I don’t know about that.”

The boy looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. “I don’t care if you’re a grim reaper, _or whatever,_ we can make it work, right?”

Minho sighed. “I have something I need-”

Jisung cut him off. “Minho, I found it!”

The man walked over to the boy, eying the blue velvet box. Jisung looked up at Minho, grinning as he opened the box. Inside held a necklace that was ancient, but very well kept. The crystal was the pendant, looking how it did years ago. Minho’s heart began to thump in his chest as he looked at the necklace and Jisung.

“I can’t believe I kept it,” the boy smiled. “Minho, this is amazing.”

“Baby,” the word rolled off his tongue. He reached forward, letting his fingers caress the crystal. “How is it in such good shape?”

He shrugged. “Before my mom died, she took the necklace to polished and stuff every couple of years. It’s really precious to our family.”

Before Minho could answer, the doorbell had rung. Jisung gave the man a confused look and closed the blue box. He gave the necklace to Minho and walked over the door to answer it. While he was at the door, the man opened up the box and gazed at the necklace.

“Minho,” Jisung said, snapping him out of his thoughts. “I forgot I made plans with my friend today. Uh, meet Felix?”

Minho gazed over at the doorway, spotting a blonde man waving at him. He waved back. “Nice to meet you.”

The boy scratched the back of his head. “You can come along with, or you can stay here. We were just going to go shopping. Ah, if you have work today, then you could leave if you want. It’s just that we don’t have each other’s phone numbers or anything and I’d really like you to stay a couple of nights.”

“It’s okay, Jisung. I’ll come back here later, okay?”

With that, Minho found himself walking back to his apartment with more worries on him mind. He spent the rest of the day laying in bed, thinking back to his and Jisung’s memories. Deep down, he was slightly jealous that Jisung had found love after Minho. However, another part of him knew that he wouldn’t have been able to treat him as well as his other lover did. Christ, he almost had the boy _murdered_.

When he returned to Jisung’s house, he was greeted with the boy wearing a kitchen apron. He had cooked dinner for the two, which was delicious. Jisung had told him that he learned how to cook as soon as his mother got sick and practiced until he got the recipes correct. Minho ate dinner while wondering if they had ended up leaving the palace, if Jisung would have cooked their dinners.

The two fell asleep like the night before, cradling each other and soft snores leaving their lips. That night, neither of them had nightmares. Instead, they had sweet dreams about each other and feeling much more comforted by their close proximity. When they woke up in the morning, they stayed in bed and held each other for just a little longer.

“I’m sorry for the way I treated you before,” Jisung was the first to speak.

Minho ran his fingers through the younger’s blonde locks, humming softly. “It’s okay, you didn’t know.”

“I was so nasty towards you. You were always nice to me, but I didn’t return it.”

“You were going through your mother’s death and you still are,” he sighed. “I didn’t expect you act kind. Besides, you were told to stay away from spirits and grim reapers all your life.”

The boy looked up at him from his chest. Minho let his hand fall from his hair to cup the boy’s cheek. Jisung leaned into his touch and closed his eyes. Even like this, Jisung was beautiful. He was just as beautiful as he was in the palace; many women were jealous of his soft features, saying it was unfair for man like him to have such beauty with a rank like his. Minho remembered writing an anonymous letter to the women that their jealousy had made them uglier to men, to which their nasty comments instantly came to a stop.

“You’re so pretty, baby,” Minho whispered. He realized what he had said after it was too late. His eyes widened and he mentally cursed at himself.

Jisung’s cheeks turned bright red as he opened his eyes and glanced at the man. “ _Stop,_ you’re embarrassing me.”

He smiled. “I can’t help it. You look the same as you did in the palace, so beautiful.”

“Yeah? You’re still the handsome man I remember from the palace too. I should feel honored that you picked me out of all of those women who were after you,” the boy smiled.

“I’d pick you over them in a heartbeat.”

It all happened in a second. Jisung had pushed himself up to press his lips together with Minho’s. It was their first kiss that both of them shared where it was mutual. In the heat of the moment, Jisung had ended up straddling the man, kissing him even harder. The passion was strong, like they had been waiting years just to be able to kiss each other again. When the boy reached down to grab the hem of Minho’s shirt, that’s when he stopped him.

“Let’s not get too far, okay?” He whispered against his lips. With one final kiss, Minho pulled away with a smile on his lips. “Your lips taste as good as they did years ago, maybe even better.”

The boy’s cheeks turned pink. “You’re still good at making me flustered, aren’t you?”

Minho chuckled. “Of course, would I even be the same if I didn’t compliment you constantly?”

Days went on quicker with Jisung by his side. Kisses were shared many times, some going even farther that just a simple kiss. As the days got closer to his inevitable death, Minho had still not told Jisung the truth. In fact, he was terrified to tell the boy. Finally, he was happy and by the man’s side. However, he couldn’t stay in the dark forever.

“Jisung, I have something I have to tell you,” he told the boy randomly after dinner.

His eyes left the television and eyed Minho suspiciously. He scooted over on the sofa, closer to the man, and pressed his lips to his cheek. “You can tell me anything.”

Minho let out a shaky breath and shook his head. “I… don’t know how to tell you this, or remotely how to deal with it myself. I’m fucking scared and I don’t want to lose you again.”

“What? You won’t lose me again. Everything is okay now, isn’t it?”

The man closed his eyes, feeling a knot form in his throat. Minho blinked quickly, trying to make the forming tears disappear. He didn’t know what to say or how to start it off; he couldn’t just say _hey, I’m dying in two days._

“Remember when I told you that I don’t think I’ll be a grim reaper for much longer?” He said quietly.

Jisung nodded, confusion written all over his face. “Yeah?”

He sighed. “I wasn’t supposed to save your life, Jisung. I was supposed to let you die, _that’s my job_ and I saved you.”

“Are you… in trouble from that?”

Nodding, the man threw an arm around Jisung and pulled him into his hold. “I’m in a lot of trouble, but it was worth it. I’m here with you now and that’s all that matters.”

The boy laid his head in the crook of Minho’s neck. “So, what happens when you get in trouble?”

Minho hesitated to speak, he didn’t want to break his heart. Fuck, the boy finally found Minho again and he was going to die again. How could he do that to him? _But he couldn’t not know._ “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Jisung raised his head up.

“You’ve gone through so much, and now _this._ Fuck, I’m so sorry, baby.”

“Minho, what is it? Tell me.”

“I’m… going to die,’ Minho whispered. “They’re going to kill me and not give me a chance for a second life.”

The boy’s body had become rigid and he didn’t speak. Tears had started to roll down Minho’s cheeks after the words left his mouth. The knot in his throat had gotten larger after telling him of his end. For the rest of the night, the two didn’t speak to each other. Not out of anger, but out of the inability to process the emotions they had felt. When they had went to bed, Jisung slept on the other side of the bed.

Sunlight hit Minho’s eyelids at dawn. They must have forgotten to close the curtains before going to bed. As he woke up more, he was happy to find that Jisung had scooted closer to him during the night and cuddled into his side. Soft snores left his lips and Minho grinned at the way his nose would twitch every other minute.

After awhile, the boy’s eyes fluttered open and met Minho’s soft ones. Jisung let out a groan and grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it over his body, just so he could get closer to Minho. He exhaled, feeling pleased with himself.

“I didn’t sleep very good last night,” he mumbled tiredly. “Cause I wasn’t with you.”

Minho smiled. “Me neither, I’m glad you’re here now.”

Minutes passed and they fell into a comfortable silence. The man couldn’t tell if Jisung had fallen asleep again or not. So, he brought his hand up and combed his fingers through the blonde hair. More minutes passed and Minho felt the boy shift beside him.

“Do you know when your last day is?” He asked quietly.

Minho frowned and closed his eyes. “Today, I’m pretty sure. I have to report back to the association tomorrow. That’s when they’ll… you know.”

Jisung sighed. “I guess we should make the best out of today, then.”

“Let’s start with taking a nap before we do anything,” he laughed.

“Good idea.”

The rest of the morning was spent in bed. Once the two decided to get out of bed, it was the afternoon. Minho sat in front of the television while Jisung began to cook them a late lunch. On the television, a drama played. It was a historical drama that took place a little later than Minho’s time. The man on the drama performed a ritual for the rain to come down from the heavens.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Minho looked over at Jisung. “Is this drama accurate?”

“No,” the boy snorted. “It’s a remake of a fictional book.”

Minho nodded. “Oh, I see. Were you alive when this was supposed to take place?”

“Ah, maybe? I must have been pretty old, though.”

The boy left the kitchen area and walked in to watch the drama for a second. As the man on the screen performed the ritual, Jisung crossed his arms. When the rain began to fall on the drama, Jisung hummed.

“I wonder if something like that could have happened when we were alive.”

Minho paused and looked up a Jisung with eyes wide and mouth agape. “I think I have an idea.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

The man sat up from the sofa and ran over to the drawer that the necklace sat in. He took out the blue velvet box and grinned at Jisung. As he took out the crystal necklace, he looked back at the television.

“We messed up the offering by taking the crystal, correct?” Minho told him. “Your family was probably cursed from keeping the crystal with you for so many years. If we offered it now, maybe my life will be spared and you won’t see spirits anymore.”

Jisung hesitated to speak. A frown formed on his lips as he looked at the crystal. “Are you sure that will work? If you were already a grim reaper and now you’re sentenced to death, I don’t know if they’ll accept the offering.”

“We won’t know if we don’t try, baby.”

After eating lunch, Minho and Jisung sat together with the crystal between them. The boy was searching how to properly offer to the gods while Minho searched on a map where Hwang Hyunjin’s palace would be in modern day. It took over an hour for the two to get anywhere with their research and when they did, they were left with more questions.

The palace that Hwang Hyunjin lived was on the other side of Seoul, but they weren’t sure if they would be able to find the same offering area from before. Actually offering the items, Jisung couldn’t find much info on how to offer the crystal to the gods without the purchase of questionable items.

When evening came, they decided just to purchase incense and candles, as that seemed more appropriate for modern time. However, now they had to find some way to get into the palace without questions being raised. Visiting hours were surely over and the palace was most likely heavily guarded.

“I brought my hat just in case,” Minho told the boy as they left the supermarket.

Jisung glanced up at the man’s head and laughed. “I was wondering why the cashier thought I was crazy.”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “I thought it would come in handy when we have to sneak into the palace.”

The boy almost tripped when the words left Minho’s mouth. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, furrowing his eyebrows at the man. Minho came to a halt, watching as Jisung place his hands on his hips.

“You never told me anything about sneaking in,” he frowned.

Minho shrugged his shoulders. “I figured you knew that visitation hours are over. Come on, let’s go. We’re almost there.”

“Minho.”

“Baby, we have to sneak in,” the man sighed. “There’s no other way. Don’t you want to do this?”

Jisung looked down at the ground. “Of course I do! I don’t want to spend my final night with you in jail, that’s all.”

Minho placed his fingers on the boy’s chin, lifting it up slightly. He pressed a lingering kiss to Jisung’s lips and pulled back. “I have a plan, you don’t need to worry, okay?”

The two ended up at the palace after Minho assured the boy that everything would be fine. However, Minho wasn’t sure if everything would be okay after glancing at the palace. From just looking inside from the front, a guard surveyed the courtyard. There was no doubt that other guards, as well as cameras, watched the inside of the buildings.

Jisung followed the man to the side of the gate where they wouldn’t be seen. He held his arms around his abdomen, watching as Minho place their backpack by a nearby tree. It was terrifying to be here after dark, Jisung wasn’t sure how he lived in the palace years ago.

“Since I have my hat,” Minho said as he pulled out the crystal and slung the backpack back around his shoulders. “I’m going to go in first and disable all of the cameras I see. You stay here and and try not to get caught, okay?”

Jisung nodded as Minho placed the necklace over his neck. “Be safe, okay?”

The man smiled and kissed his cheeks before starting to walk back to the front of the gate, leaving Jisung behind. A shaky breath left his mouth as he walked through the gate; the guard didn’t see him and Minho thanked the gods for letting his hat still work before being terminated. He looked up at the top of the entrance, seeing a camera set up there. Minho looked around at the ground and spotted a large rock; he grinned and picked it up, chunking it at the camera with enough force to break the lens.

“Who’s there?” The guard called out.

Minho turned around, looking at the man run to the camera and curse to himself as he saw the glass on the ground. He walked out the gate, surveying the area and shaking his head when he saw nothing. Minho snickered to himself and began walking throughout the courtyard, finding cameras and breaking them without trying to raise more suspicion from the guard.

After all the cameras were disabled, Minho snuck into the building quietly. Inside, it had looked like a museum; with ropes enclosing ancient art and clothing. Thankfully, the place didn’t seem like it had any guards in the building, so his biggest enemies were cameras. He looked around until he saw a camera focused on the entrance. Swiftly, he reached up and disabled the camera without causing any damage and then searched around until he disabled all of the cameras in the building.

His searching eventually led him to a large door that was most likely the throne room that belonged to Hyunjin many years ago. When Minho opened the room, he glanced at the ropes that only allowed people to view the area. He stepped over the ropes and walked near the throne. His mind had flashed back to the way Changbin would sit at the throne in the other palace, a smirk glued to his face as he ordered Minho to carry out tasks that were deemed a little more dangerous than the others.

Minho had looked around for the perfect spot to perform the offering. He wasn’t sure if doing it right in the throne room was ideal, but this was the closest they could get to the original area it was supposed to be performed. He took off the back pack and placed it right where Hyunjin would sit. One by one, he took out the candles and started lighting them as he went. He took out the incense and placed it down beside the candles and figured he would wait until he had Jisung with him to light them.

Once he finished placing the stuff down, he stood back up and made his way out of the palace to meet Jisung. The boy had been sitting against the tree, looking back and forth from one side to the other. Minho could tell he was scared just by the look his eyes. When he approached the boy, he stood up immediately, then realized it was just Minho.

He let out a breath. “I thought you were a guard.”

“It’s just me, baby,” Minho smiled and pressed a kiss to his temple. “I disabled most of the cameras. It’s just the guard we have to worry about.”

Jisung nodded. “Do you want to do it alone? It’d probably be safer, considering the guard can’t see you.”

Minho shook his head and looked back at the building. “I don’t think the curse would leave your family if I do it alone. It’s safer if we do it together, Jisung. Trust me, you won’t get caught.”

The boy finally agreed and Minho was back at the entrance, this time with Jisung right behind him. Minho turned around and motioned for him to wait as he entered the courtyard. The guard was near the wall, using his phone. When Minho approached him, he picked up a rock and threw it in the direction away from Jisung.

“ _What the hell?_ ”

The guard turned around and Minho motioned for Jisung to come through while the guard tried to find the source of the noise. As the boy ran through, Minho began making more noise, making sure Jisung safely got through to the building. Once Jisung got through, Minho left the guard alone and followed back into the building.

“Where are we supposed to go?” The boy asked once Minho walked through.

He took a hold of Jisung’s hand and began to lead him around the hallways until they were standing in front of the throne room again. Minho opened the door and pulled the boy over the ropes, walking over to the candles he had lit earlier. Jisung sat by the candles and took off the necklace that Minho had put on him.

“If we just,” Minho started arranging the candles. “Put the crystal in the middle, light the incense, and _pray?_ I think it will work.”

Jisung nodded and placed the crystal in the middle of the candles. He took the incense and began to light the tip of them. Minho sat down on the other side of the boy and took a deep breath as the smoke began to circle around them.

He hoped that the offering would work and that he wouldn’t have to leave the boy once again. All the hardships that Jisung faced was all because of Minho’s selfish action in his past life. To say he regretted it was an understatement, his heart ached and just looking at the blonde headed boy made him feel so guilty.

“Aren’t you going to start?” The boy asked.

Minho nodded, giving him a soft smile. He let out a long sigh and looked up to the ceiling, hoping their efforts would reach the gods.

“We’ve brought back the crystal that we should have returned centuries ago,” he began. “You do not have to forgive us, but please notice our efforts to make things right. The only thing I ask is to spare Jisung; he’s lived a rough life ever since he met me in the palace those years ago. Please, I don’t want him to hurt anymore.”

“Minho, what are you saying?” Jisung hissed. “What about you?”

Minho shook his head. “I want you to be happy. My fate was to make you happy and that’s what I’m doing. I’ll make sure you get out of the palace safely. Can you promise me that you’ll live a happy life without me?”

“Minho, _stop._ I can’t be happy without you. Don’t you dare try to leave me again.”

The grim reaper smiled sadly and reached forward to press his lips against Jisung’s for the last time. Tears were welding in his eyes when he pulled away to cup the boy’s cheek. He looked down at the crystal and back up at the ceiling. Taking in a breath, he let his hand fall from Jisung’s cheek.

“Please lift the curse from his family,” he looked at Jisung again. “I love you, please remember that.”

Minho must have disappeared from the naked eye, because Jisung widened his eyes and looked around for the familiar man. The candle blew out by themselves, the gods must have heard his request. He watched with tears streaming down his cheeks as Jisung stood up from the candles, crying out for Minho.

“ _Please,_ Minho. Take off your hat, I don’t want to lose you again. Why didn’t you ask them to spare you? You fucking… _Dumbass!_ What about how I feel? I love you so much and I can’t lose you again. Minho… _Please._ ”

He never took off his hat. Instead, he followed behind the boy, making sure the guard would catch him and that he got home safely. Afterwards, Minho began walking back to his apartment, feeling a hole deep in his chest. Jisung would find someone who would give him more comfort than he ever could, just like he had before. It was fate.

The next morning, Minho stood in front of the association once again. His heart was pounding in his chest as the demigods prepared his end. He sat in a chair, surrounded by the three. Unlike humans, he wasn’t able to be passed over the same. Instead, they had a needle ready with his poison.

“Are you ready, Minho?” One of them asked.

Hesitantly, he nodded. Immediately, the needle punctured his arm. While the poison entered him, he thought back to Jisung. He hoped that the boy would find love; maybe even with that Felix boy. His happiness was all that he wanted and Minho knew that he couldn’t provide that.

His vision became blurry and began to fade in and out. As his heart began to beat even faster, he looked up at the ceiling, taking in his final breaths before the end. Before his vision could finally fade to black, he could have sworn he saw Jisung’s bright smile that he missed. His heart ached for the last time and then there was nothing.

♢♢♢

Minho gasped for air when he woke up in the middle of the night. His heart had felt like a bowling ball pounding into his chest. He rubbed his forehead, feeling a migraine coming along. His dream was intense and terrifying like he had just witnessed two lifetimes play before his eyes all at once.  

He reached over to grab his phone, realizing that it was almost time for his morning class. A groan left his lips as he turned off the alarm he had previously set. The nightmares were a normal thing and he had seen many therapists about it, which they all had suggested that they all were part of his past lives, but he didn’t believe in that kind of thing.

His feet swung around his bed and he stood up, stretching his arms out. He glanced over at his sleeping roommate, Chan. The man slept for practically hours and could probably sleep through everything. Minho snorted and walked over to his closet and pulled out a set of clothes.

After he had gotten dressed and brushed his teeth, Minho began walking to his class while combing his fingers through his hair. Along the way, his friend in the class, Changbin, met him and walked with him to class.

“Dude, I didn’t get enough sleep last night,” he groaned. “Jeongin kept me up with his music.”

Minho snorted. “Try having chronic nightmares.”

“I told you I’ve had nightmares like yours before,” Changbin rolled his eyes. “Unlike you, I’ve accepted it that I’m just remembering my past life.”

“Yeah, is being a grim reaper a normal past life? I don’t think so, that’s fairytale shit. It’s just random recurring nightmares.”

The other rolled his eyes once again. “Oh hey, I’m going to go say hi to Seungmin. Meet you in class.”

Minho told Changbin goodbye as he continued to walk towards class. Once he made it, he placed his backpack in the chair beside him to save a seat for Changbin. Other people filled the class and his other friend, Woojin, sat right beside him.

They chatted about their weekends and music until Changbin showed up, showing them his favorite music of the week. Class ended up starting and it went by quicker than expected, mostly because their professor assigned them a research essay about the Joseon Dynasty and wanted them to start right away.

After class, Minho found himself walking to the library after grabbing a coffee from his favorite barista, Hyunjin. It was his daily routine: class, coffee, and then the library until his next classes. He walked through the library, finding his familiar spot and taking a seat. There wasn’t many people in the building, considering it was still early in the morning, but that just meant it was easier to get his work done without distractions.

Minho sipped on his coffee as he took out his laptop and searched Joseon Dynasty. He scrolled through the searches and found a webpage for the beginning of the era. His eyes scanned the words, letting out a snort when he spotted Changbin’s name as the leader. _He had to tell the boy about it later._

However, things began to turn odd when he spotted Hyunjin’s name as well, as a known enemy to King Changbin. Sure, his Changbin wasn’t particularly fond with the barista, but that was just coincidental. Minho read more about the beginning in peace, feeling quite immersed with the story. He didn’t even notice that someone had sat right next to him.

He was almost about to stop himself from reading to start writing the beginning, but his eyes caught a particular headline: Theft of the Gods Offering. Hesitantly, he began reading the portion. A group of men had stolen a crystal from the gods and two of them ran off while one, named Bang Chan, was murdered in the palace. One was murdered in the nearby forest while the other one had managed to escape with the crystal. Minho tilted his head; the story had felt similar to his dreams.

“It’s just a coincidence, Minho,” he sighed to himself as he clicked out of the webpage.

His eyes were trained to his document as he began to write his research on the Joseon Dynasty. He was about three paragraphs in until there was tap on his shoulder. Minho averted his gaze from his laptop and glanced over. His eyes were immediately met with a beautiful boy who sat right next to him.

The beautiful boy wore a grey hoodie that complimented his body. He had blonde hair that partly covered his eyebrows and parted down the middle. A pout set on his lips as he glance from his own laptop and Minho’s.

“You’re working on the Joseon Dynasty essay, right? I was wondering if you could help me, I’m not sure on how to start it. My name is Jisung, by the way.”

Minho was stunned. All he could do was stare blankly at the beautiful boy’s, or should he say Jisung’s, laptop. He nodded quickly and scooted his chair closer towards him. “Sure, my name’s Minho.”

He reached his hand out to touch Jisung’s computer, but ended up accidentally touching his hand. Quickly, he yanked his hand away, but before he could apologize, Jisung stared at him with bewildered eyes.

“I,” Minho started. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to help you type something.”

The boy shook his head. “ _Minho?_ That’s impossible, _you died!_ I thought you couldn’t come back?”

Minho furrowed his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t you remember me? This is amazing, a miracle! _Ah fuck_ , I’m getting a headache,” Jisung sighed as he reached into his backpack to pull out a couple of painkillers. He swallowed them dryly and looked back up at Minho.

“I’m sorry, but have we met before? I don’t think I remember you.”

Jisung frowned. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

The man scooted his chair back to where he was originally. He didn’t know what to think of this beautiful boy. Sure, he was good looking, but obviously there was something wrong with him. “I don’t think we’ve ever met, sorry.”

“I can’t believe you can’t remember, this is ridiculous. I’m Han Jisung, does that ring a bell?”

“Look, I don’t-”

Minho was cut off his nightmares began to flash in his eyes again. The card appeared his mind, reading Han Jisung. He remembered waiting out on a street until midnight while a car came racing forward at figure. The same grey jacket, the same blonde locks.

When Minho came to, he jumped back in his chair in surprise. His heart was beating quickly as he looked up at down the beautiful boy. Jisung’s figure had looked the same in his nightmare and his name was the same, _Han Jisung._

He shook his head. “This is just a coincidence, I’m sorry. I need to leave.”

Minho began to pack his things up, but before he could leave, Jisung grabbed his arm with worry written across his face. “Please don’t leave me again.”

_“Minho, stop. I can’t be happy without you. Don’t you dare try to leave me again.”_

His nightmares began to flash more violently before his eyes as Jisung had his hold on him. His heart was beating too quickly at this rate and his breathing turned erratic. Before he knew it, his vision turned black and he fell to the floor with a thud.

A grim reaper who helped spirits pass on to their next lives. A simple guard in the palace whose job was to assist the king with any task given. Those two lives played in the darkness that Minho laid in. In both of those lives, he could see the same blonde boy who his heart had ached for, Han Jisung. His lips tingled, remembering how the familiar lips felt upon his in both of those lives. He wanted nothing more but to have those lips on his again. Minho wanted the same love.

When he finally woke up, he laid in the infirmary. His head throbbed after the memories of his two past lives came back to him all at once. He let out a groan and brought his hands to his forehead, rubbing slightly.

“Jisung,” he mumbled to himself.

“Are you finally awake?”

The voice had scared Minho, causing him to jump slightly. He turned to his right, finding the same familiar blonde boy from the library, the palace, and the funeral home. His mouth went agape as he couldn’t find the words to express how much he had missed the boy after all of these years. Tears started to welp in his eyes and as his eyes scanned over the boy’s features, the tears fell from his lashes and down his cheeks.

“Jisung,” he cried. “I’ve missed you so much.”

The boy smiled. “I’ve missed you too, Minho. You made me wait three lifetimes to finally have you.”

Minho shook his head as the sobs left his lips. “It’s really you, you’re right here. I thought I’d never see you again.”

“I’m here, _baby_. This time, I’m not going to let you go, you know that right? You can try to leave me all you want, but it’s not going to happen.”

The man nodded, reaching his hands out to touch Jisung’s cheeks. “I love you so much, I never stopped.”

Jisung only smiled. Instead of speaking, he reached down to the bed and pressed a longing kiss to the man’s lips. In that point of time, Minho realized that he was going to be selfish in this lifetime and hold Jisung close to him until death pulled them apart. He wanted nothing but to be with the love of all his lives. Even through lifetimes, his feelings never changed.


End file.
